Ethiopia

Many people in Ethiopia suffer from recurrent droughts, and climate change is exacerbating the problem. Helvetas supports them in their efforts to make a living despite the scarcity of water. We are also improving rural infrastructure by building suspension footbridges and providing vocational training and capacity-building for local authorities.

Skills Development and Education
Governance, Peace & Migration
Sustainable and Inclusive Economies
Water

* Source: UN Data

The Ethiopian government invests heavily in education, and the economy is rapidly developing. But these developments hardly benefit Ethiopian farming families, who are confronted time and again with droughts and famines. Since 2002 Helvetas has been providing hands-on support to relieve their distress.

Support for farmers and nomadic herders

For example, we build cisterns for farming families that store rainwater collected from the rooftops. Farmers also plant drought-tolerant crops on hillsides to reduce erosion – and grow more food. Furthermore, with Helvetas' support, farmers make more varied use of the prickly pear (local name: beles), whose leaves supplement their diet and provide fodder for their animals, and whose fruits can be sold to the capital.

Nomadic herders also suffer from recurrent drought and receive emergency support from Helvetas.

Suspended bridges for remote regions

In the mountainous regions of Ethiopia, it often takes people a day or more to walk to the next village or water source. This is a major obstacle to rural development. Suspended footbridges connect remote settlements to traffic routes. This improves access to schools, markets and hospitals. Ethiopian engineers have been trained in bridge-building by Nepalese experts, who, thanks to a Helvetas project, have many years’ experience in building suspension footbridges.

More know-how for local authorities

Local authorities are improving their capacity to provide public services. With Helvetas’ know-how, they can plan, build and administer development projects themselves, such as drinking water facilities, irrigation systems and suspension bridges.

Helvetas has also been active in vocational training since 2015. Thanks to training courses in tailoring, carpentry, electrical wiring, hairdressing, cooking etc., young adults are improving their income as salaried employees or self-employed tradespersons.